Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu became Cardinal Richelieu on 5th September 1622, in the reign of Louis XIII. The assassination of Louis’s father, Henry IV in 1610 is the subject of The Suggested Assassin, the third book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Richelieu saw parallels with events of his father, François de Richelieu’s time.
François had attended court as a page when the young King Charles IX was guarded by his mother and regent, Catherine de Medici. So in 1610, Armand rushed to Paris to offer his services to the new king and his regent mother, Marie de Medici. He was received well, but Marie’s situation was perilous and she thought it best to stick with her existing advisors.
Richelieu had become fluent in Italian and Spanish during 1605 when he went to Rome. From 1611 until 1614 he used his familiarity with the Italian language and customs to win the patronage of Marie’s favourite, her childhood friend and sister in all but blood, Leonora Concini, and her husband Concino Concini.
Richelieu played a pivotal role in the Estates General which was called in 1614 to address the power struggle between the regency and the ambitious nobles. From the success of the Estates General he became an important advisor to Marie. By 1616 he was Secretary of State for Foreign Affaires. When the power struggle between Marie and her son, King Louis XIII reached its crisis in 1617, Richelieu found himself on the wrong side.
Therefore Richelieu had to bide his time until Louis XIII’s favourite and First Minister, Charles d’Albert died of scarlet fever in 1621. Richelieu then rose rapidly to power, replacing Charles d’Albert as Louis XIII’s First Minister.
I’m not sure how much of this period I should cover in my next book. I may choose to compress some of the timescales. The period from 1613 to 1622 seems too long for one book. I may split it into two or even three books.